[G] [C] 731.04.20 | Touching The World Above [GROUP 2 EGG TOUCHING]

Naturally, Allendris found himself at the front of the line of Candidates as usual. Such was the burden of bearing a name that started with A, though he felt some relief at the fact that in this instance, there was one other young man in front of him. Not that he usually minded being the de-facto leader of things, but in this instance even he could admit that despite their weeks of lessons regarding dragons and weyr life, now that he was standing in front of the massive gold beast known as Nirinath, he had absolutely no idea how and where to proceed. Mercifully, G'rem had kept his instructions as gruff and easy-to-understand as always: get in. Pay the dragon your dues. Don't break anything.

Keenly, the young glass-smith watched the boy whose name he didn't quite remember (but apparently also started with A) go through the required motions first. Nothing extravagant happened; Nirinath seemed haughty and irritable, but the young man proceeded towards the eggs without getting eaten. This bolstered Allendris's confidence somewhat. Cautiously, he approached the testy-looking gold, with a well-practiced bow of deference. When G'rem had instructed them to thank the dragon for the privilege of viewing her eggs, Allendris hadn't been sure he could say the words with any sincerity. After all, he had never asked to come to this weyr, nor had he ever once in his life entertained the notion of abandoning his craft and hard-earned rank for such a fantastic purpose as becoming a dragonrider. And yet... there was something about that room, or else something that he read into the stern yet oddly anxious looks on the riders' faces, or perhaps even in the regal poise of the mother dragon as she curled protectively over her clutch, that changed his mind. "Thank you for this rare opportunity to view your eggs, Queen Nirinath," he said, finding it momentarily odd to be addressing an animal with the same tone of humility and respect that he might have used to flatter a Lord Holder.

Unlike with those fat, rich politicians, however, this time there was nothing artificial about the note of awe that quieted his voice as he spoke, and that surprised even himself.

Having thus addressed the dragon, the glass-smith proceeded towards the clutch as instructed. Allendris was no stranger to hot sands, having lived most of his life on Ista. These sands, however, were almost unbearable, and he could feel the heat seeping even through the thick leather of his boots as he slowly stepped towards the eggs and quietly regarded each one with a sort of wide-eyed, childish curiosity that he hadn't felt in years. It hit him, for perhaps the first time since coming to the Weyr, that these were dragon eggs! Real live dragon eggs, from real live dragons - a species he'd spent most of his young life firmly believing was extinct! The usually composed young man felt a strange panic come over him as he reconsidered G'rem's stern warning that they were not to damage the eggs. What if he did?! These were the last dragon eggs on all of Pern! He would hate to be the man who put the entire species at risk simply by tripping and falling into the fragile-looking shells.

Foolishly, he counted them; the exact number was there, just as promised. As they were the second group to visit the clutch, that meant a full dozen Candidates had gone through the Touching without having caused any drastic problems. Perhaps the eggs were not as fragile as they looked... he hoped. Still, Allendris felt uneasy as he knelt beside the largest and sturdiest looking egg. Were he not so preoccupied with forcing from his mind the nerve-wracking memory of the kitchen workers cracking rows upon rows of chicken eggs at a breakfast not too long ago, he might have paused a moment to admire the mottled browns and reds of its gently pebbled surface. This, however - the Dragging Anchors egg - was no chicken egg. Allendris understood this immediately once his fingers had touched its surprisingly hard and warm shell.